A FEW PLEASANT SURPRISES

Before I say anything else about this recipe, I want to make one thing super clear: this recipe is different (in a good way!). This is definitely not your mommas shepherd’s pie! For starters, I only used ground beef while most recipes call for lamb or both ground beef and lamb. However, you certainly could use lamb when you make this dish. Next, I chose to omit the peas, corn, and carrots – not because they aren’t delicious, but because they are pretty high in sugar and carbs. If you aren’t doing keto, and more carbs and a little bit of sugar is no issue for you, feel free to add in some veggies! Then finally, another difference is that instead of using a broth for the filling, I used cream cheese which helped make this dish extra cheesy! All of these little changes add up to big flavor!

MASHED CAULIFLOWER

There are basically two ways that you can make your mashed cauliflower that will top your shepherd’s pie: (1) you can buy a head of cauliflower, chop it up, boil it, pop it in the food processor, and season it, or, (2) you can buy a pre-made, frozen, mashed cauliflower from your local grocery store! We chose to go with option two just because it is so much more convenient, but if you prefer to make your own, you can find out how to make mashed cauliflower here. We bought Green Giant’s Cheddar and Bacon Mashed Cauliflower and it was super delicious and really easy to reheat. All you have to do is pop it in the microwave for about 15 minutes and you’ve the perfect topper for your yummy shepherd’s pie! But, I didn’t call this a “cheesy” shepherd’s pie for nothing! We added about half a cup of shredded cheddar cheese into our mashed cauliflower half way through cooking, and trust me when I say that I ended up with something wayyyyy better than any mashed potatoes I have ever had! It was insane how good it turned out. So, whether you make your own mashed cauliflower or go with a pre-made, definitely add in some cheddar cheese! (Disclaimer: Green Giant did not sponsor this post, but if they wanted to, that would be okay too hint-hint 😉 )

THE FILLING

Like I said earlier, the filling in this shepherd’s pie is not your traditional filling. I only used a few ingredients for the filling, the most important one being cream cheese. The cream cheese did a great job of holding the ground beef and the other ingredients together. Another ingredient that I think held the everything together was heavy cream. Typically, you would add some flour to the filling of a shepherds pie. However, since adding coconut or almond flour to a shepherd’s pie sounded a little… not so good, I decided to go with heavy cream instead. Heavy cream serves as a great base, and a pretty decent replacement for flour. In fact, we used heavy cream instead of flour when we made our Keto Mac and Cheese and it turned out great! Just let your filling simmer for a while and it will really start to thicken up.

STEPS

To begin, start to prepare your mashed cauliflower, like I did in photo one. If you are cooking it in a conventional oven, you will need to let it cook for about 45 minutes, so you should begin to cook it before you start on your filling. While your cauliflower is cooking, begin to create your filling by browning your ground beef, as I did in photo two. Once your ground beef is cooked, toss it in a colander and let is drain, as seen in photo three. Then, toss your ground beef back into the skillet and add in all of the other ingredients, as shown in photo four.

Make sure that your ingredients are all mixed well! Once they’re mixed, let your filling simmer for about five minutes, like I did in photo five. After it simmers for a while, it should be pretty thick.

Now that your filling is ready, it’s time to focus on the mashed cauliflower. Following the instructions on the package, once it’s time to take it out of the oven to stir, stir in some shredded cheddar cheese, shown in photo six. This will make such a difference! After you’ve stirred in the cheese, continue to cook until done. Then, top your filling with your mashed cauliflower, like I did in photo seven, and admire your work, which should look something like photo eight!

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Nutritional Disclaimer: We are not certified nutritionists. Nutritional data is provided as a courtesy. The information provided is calculated through a free-web based nutrition calculator and is not guaranteed to be accurate. To ensure we provide you with good information, we look at a variety of calculators.

Nutritional Disclaimer: We are not certified nutritionists. Nutritional data is provided as a courtesy. The information provided is calculated through a free-web based nutrition calculator and is not guaranteed to be accurate. To ensure we provide you with good information, we look at a variety of calculators.SaveSave

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Hey! We're Kasey and Dylan from sunny Orlando, Florida and we want to welcome you to the Butter Together Kitchen! We are excited to get to chronicle our low carb adventures, share our tasty recipes, and connect with you. Learn More

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